Educational Programs
Complimentary Educational Programs
Each of the 90-minute programs below are complimentary educational resources presented by Hospice Foundation of America (HFA). Continuing education credit is not provided.
Clicking the button below will redirect you to HFA’s website to view the programs.
Autism & Grief
This program empowers professionals in their service to adults with autism experiencing grief and loss. Expert panelists examine the disenfranchisement that can occur for grieving people with autism and discuss ways to enfranchise them during their grief journey. The program also addresses grief after non-death losses, anticipatory mourning, and how adults with autism may best be supported. Continuing education credit is not provided.
Target Audience: Social workers, nurses, paraprofessionals, speech therapists, occupational therapists, funeral directors, and other caring professionals.
Expert Presenters:
Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv – Dr. Doka serves as Sr. Vice President of grief programs for HFA and is a consultant for the Autism & Grief Project. He is an ordained Lutheran minister, counselor, and bereavement expert who developed and identified the concept of disenfranchised grief. A prolific author and editor on a wide range of grief topics, including the significance of ritual, Dr. Doka was a professor of gerontology at the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle (NY) for 38 years and has served as a senior consultant to HFA for over 25 years.
Lisa (Elizabeth) R. M organ, MEd, CAS – Lisa is a certified autism specialist and advocate of the autism community with regards to crisis supports, suicide prevention, and postvention. She served on the Autism & Grief Project team, is co-chair of the Autism and Suicide Committee of the American Association of Suicidology, and author of Crisis Supports for the Autism Community – A Toolkit. A subject matter expert as an autistic adult with valuable lived experience in the field of suicidology as a suicide loss survivor, co-researcher, teacher/trainer, and speaker.
Lara Palay, LISW-S – Lara is a licensed social worker and clinical supervisor. She teaches clinical social work at The Ohio State University College of Social Work. Ms. Palay served as the first Project Manager for the Mental Illness/Developmental Disabilities Coordinating Center of Excellence for the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. She presented Supporting Individuals with Autism in Grief and Loss for the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).
Moderator: Amy Tucci, President & CEO, Hospice Foundation of America
The Role of Clergy and Faith Leaders in Supporting Adults with Autism Through Grief and Loss
This program explains ways in which adults with autism may experience and express grief. The expert presenter provides tools, resources, and strategies for clergy to use in their faith communities in order to enfranchise and support those with autism throughout their grief journey. Continuing education credit is not provided.
Target Audience: Clergy, chaplains, pastoral care professionals, youth ministry leaders, religious educators, and others from any spiritual or faith traditions.
Expert Presenter:
Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv – Senior Vice President of Grief Programs at the Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) and recipient of the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). He serves as editor of HFA’s Living with Grief® book series and its Journeys bereavement newsletter. He is a prolific author, editor, and lecturer; past president of ADEC; and a member and past chair of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement (IWG). In 2018, the IWG presented Doka with the Herman Feifel Award for outstanding achievement in thanatology. He received an award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Death Education from ADEC in 1998. Doka is an ordained Lutheran minister and a licensed mental health counselor in the state of New York.